I was wondering if anyone currently uses one of the new oregon units and what they think of it.

I am looking to get a new unit by the end of the year (best buy coupon) and the oregon caught my eye. I have read a lot of good things about it, but also some negative things about battery life and screen brightness.

I think that Best Buy only stocks the Oregon 400t, but also has the Colorado 300 and 400. I don't really need the topo maps on the 400's, but I'm not sure I like the colorados wheel. These are the units I am most interested in, but any helpful input would be appreciated so I can hopefully make a good decision. Thanks!

There are a dozen or more of us that read this forum and also have the Oregon 400t. Speaking for myself only, I love it! I also had the Colorado, and liked it mildly until I upgraded to the Oregon. Best thing I could have done. Plain and simple, the Oregon is ten times more user friendly. All the positives of the Oregon heavily outweigh the very few (imho) negatives so far.

Most of us are still holding our breath as to how the touch screen is going to work with the harsh Minnesota cold air. Not to mention that you will probably need to take off gloves to operate it. We will see???_________________"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods..." - Lord Byron

I too have the Oregon and love it. I had the Colorado but switched over to the Oregon when it first came out due to an issue I was having with the scroll wheel. The screen brightness is an issue for some but I have had no problems seeing it. Battery life is okay. I get a full day out of my rechargeables. I like caching only with the GPSr and being able to have the complete description, hints and last five logs. The ability to log your finds and to put in field notes at the cache is great. Drag and drop of the GPX files is great as well. Some people did find a slight learning curve with it but most end up figuring it out fairly quickly because it is really user friendly. If you decide to get it there are plenty of people who can help you if you need any.

We own the Oregon 400t as well and are very happy with our upgrade. We used to have a Garmin GPSMAP 60C and an Etrex Legend. I would recommend that you visit a weeknight event or a breakfast buddies, there are usually someone there with a device you can try out. That's what I did to get a feel for the interface. (Thanks MinnesotaBrad and CSTJohn.)

The cons:
Less technical features. The 60C did have some more advanced features in terms of navigation. Better ability to project waypoints, proximity alarms. Things that you never need 99.99% of the time, but still missing.
Screen brightness. It is less bright than the 60C. In practice I have not had any issues with this but at times you have to pull it closer to the eyes or tilt it slightly to see properly. Not a big deal, but it is noticeable.
Maps. Having to switch between road maps and topo maps if you add the City Navigator North America maps to it. It does have a "switch mode" feature that makes it easier to switch but it is still required.
Multicaches. While doing multicaches you lose the ability to easy switch to the cache description or hint as the GPS requires you to create a new waypoint for each new stage. Then for the hint you need to stop searching for the final stage and start searching for the first stage to be able to view the hint.

The pros:
Intuitive easy to use interface. The interface makes more sense and is faster to use than the 60c or Etrex.
Giant screen. Larger size compared to what we were used to. It makes a difference in better being able to navigate the maps.
Caching info. Finally a device that feels modern enough to allow the upload of basic cache info (Logs, description, hint) with an easy to use interface.
Built-in topomaps. IMO, the added $100 cost for the t is worth it to get the added details of the topo maps while out in the woods.

All in all. This is a great all-around caching and car navigation device. We love it. Don't forget to use the BestBuy 40% off if you buy it.

I appreciate the feedback. The only criteria I really care about in a GPSr is durability and ease of use. I know that units like the 60csx and such are durable units, but I am really sick of pushing so many buttons to navigate and those have more than my legend does now. I'm not sure why I'm compelled to jump from one of the most basic units to the highes end, but I just don't get the vibe that the units in between fit the "ease of use" part. A GPS set up like a PDA is like the difference between Microsoft DOS and Windows. There is less scrolling through menus, and a more interactive button set.

know that units like the 60csx and such are durable units, but I am really sick of pushing so many buttons to navigate

I have a legend and a 60CX, and the number of buttons needed to navigate is pretty much the same. What specifically do you find takes more button pushes to do?

Ok, you got me. I've never actually USED a 60cx so that isnt a fair statement, your right. Thats one of disadvantages of jumping from the bottom to the top: You miss everything in between. I guess I assumed that the 60cx has the same type of menu navigation that the legend had. Now that I look at it, there are significantly more buttons on the 60 than the legend. Anyways, I am most intrigued by the touchscreen of the Oregon, not having to follow a sequence of physical buttons at all but selecting on the screen exactly what it is that i want. It seems just a little more organized and easy to use in my head.

Everyone is mentioning a 40% off coupon... where would I find one of these? I too am looking at purchasing a new Oregon 400t by the end of the year._________________~~ I was told all I needed was a GPS. I wanted everything else. ~~

They originated in the state park caches, but can probably be found in the hands of various local cachers (some of the other forums mention this). I just used mine and a lot of gift certificates to get a new Oregon. So far, it obviously trumps the Legend. It is fun to play with and easy to use.

Congrats on getting your new Oregon. J got one for his birthday in early November and we really like it. Like you we went from the bottom to the top so there has been quite a learning curve, and we are oblivious to the units inbetween.

On the advice of Gilby we upgraded the software at the Garmin.com site. The upgrade really helped with the user friendliness of changing or entering coordinates. Unfortunately a portion of the software that used the compass corrupted and on the advice of Garmin Customer Service we did a master reset which wiped out all our user customizing. Being new users we didn't really remember what we had customized in the first place or even how we had done it, so we've had to learn how to customize, twice! I would add that the Garmin Customer Service help was great.

We've been disappointed with the battery life of our newly purchased rechargeable batteries, but also realize we are comparing to our former eTrex. Remembering to turn off the back light in the daytime helps.

Playing around with the Oregon is a lot of fun and we are learning lots. The user manual was great for getting started, but it appears there are a lot more features that we don't know about and aren't yet using. Our biggest help has been meeting up with other Oregon users who provide tips, or help us customize to a more user friendly format. We really love being able to spontaneously cache, reading the cache page out in the field, and logging using the field notes!

Our current problem is one of us caches with the big gun, and the other caches with the little tiny eTrex. Hmmm, don't know how long that will last...

So I made the leap and got an Oregon last weekend. With finals at school, I haven't had a lot of time to cache, but I went out a few times to test it out. The two things I really love about it are the touchscreen/PDA type functionality and the ease of file transfers. I havent had enough experience with it caching to know form feelings about other things like accuracy, battery life, etc. One thing that is annoying is that the maps are off quite a bit. Even my Legend could stay on the roads. Once the semester ends, I plan on getting out more to try it out.